Raquel Levis is ready to “share my side of the story.” In her first interview with Sitting since Vanderpump Rules The reunion taped in March, Levis spoke out about Scandoval, took aim at Bravo and shaded Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix’s relationship. She appears to have confirmed speculation that she will not be returning to the hit Bravo show after seeking mental health treatment.
Levis broke her silence on Bethenny Frankel wives podcast, which should come as no surprise. The 28-year-old has reportedly joined Frankel who is threatening to sue NBCUniversal, Bravo’s parent company, alleging “mistreatment of reality stars and crew members” as The Real Housewives The alum wants reality TV stars to unite.
Here are the biggest flings from Levis’ interview.
“The network is running on the bank … and I haven’t seen a single penny.”
Leavis, whose birth name is Rachel, said the compensation for the show was “unfair.”
And I feel like a little kid saying, ‘It’s not fair! But it really isn’t. And I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes on camera live on forever,” she explained.
Leavis said she “almost went back” to filming season 11 of the show VPRThere is, in agreement with Frankel, an addictive element to being on reality TV as you want to control your own narrative, as the producers always suggest.
“Also, one of the things the producers told me was that you get paid based on your performance from the previous season, and that really set me up to do well,” Levis explained of her mindset last year. “If this is my season, I can really stand out.” “You took the direction well. “
Leavis couldn’t afford the mental health treatment she had just received for months, suggests her VPR The compensation is very low, noting earlier in the podcast that her parents footed the bill.
Frankel added at one point, “I understand that you get paid less than apprentices do in a year.”
“truly?” Levis asked
Frankel replied, “Yes.”
Ariana and I weren’t the best of friends.
Leavis hinted that Scandoval’s “narrative” — that she slept with her best friend’s boyfriend — had been pumped through the Bravo PR machine. “It’s much droolier that way,” she added.
For example, she claimed that she and Madix were never that close and never commented on the two just off camera.
“We were acquaintances who became friends through the show,” she explained, calling Maddix “sweet.” “We’ve never had a deep conversation I would have with a best friend.”
Still, Leavis showed some remorse. “It hurts me to think that I hurt her in this way because it was not my intention,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to be a sly person, I just wallowed in it and wasn’t thinking clearly, but we weren’t the best of friends.”
Frankel asked Levis how she felt about being named “America’s Sweetheart” and receiving brand and endorsement deals after Scandoval.
“Part of me is saying, ‘Good for you,’ because you take advantage of these opportunities as they come your way,” said Levis. “But it hurts me just to think that — my nature is so kind and forgiving and understanding of others, so the concept of being the ultimate reality TV villain just blows me away.”
Leavis added that the way Maddix spoke to her during the reunion “was gratuitous”.
“(Tom and Ariana) weren’t a real couple.”
According to Leviss, she does not believe Madix and Sandoval ever had an intimate and authentic relationship.
She claimed, “I wouldn’t get involved in this affair, the confidential kind of situation if I thought there was a prolongation of this relationship between Tom and Ariana.” “The people closest to them could see that their relationship wasn’t what they portrayed on camera. Tom always told me, like, they’re a brand, they’re an image, they work together to do brand deals and they’re the business partners.”
“They’re a couple on the show and they use that for the success of their brand or their image,” Levis added.
The former reality star talked about how Madix and Sandoval are still living together in the home they share in Valley Village, California while filming the new season.
“I don’t know their situations, but I do know that it wasn’t really surprising that they lived together in my eyes because it was that way. They were not a real, romantic, intimate couple (couple)” she said.
Now I look back and see that I wasn’t in love with Tom.
Although Levis really “believed” she was “in love” with Sandoval during their seven-month relationship, she now knows that’s not the case.
“I also don’t think he really loved me,” she explained. “We had this connection that I felt seen and heard. I didn’t really have that connection with other people in the cast, nor with people in my real life.”
Leavis continued, “I was shooting in a noisy environment. I needed some validation and someone to hear what I was going through. Here comes Tom who really gave me that time of day to share my side of the story in a non-judgmental way. That’s exactly what I needed in that moment.” .
She added, “I’m finally getting to a place where it (the case) makes sense to me.”
At the beginning of the episode, Levis notices how she’s been working on herself.
She added, “It was a whirlwind. It was a mess, but I took some time for myself to reflect and try to make sense of my actions, and I finally got to a place where it made sense to me.” Going away to a facility helped her calm the noise and get the clarity she needed.
“There was such vitriol on the Internet,” she recalled, indicating that she had sought therapy to “understand” her behaviour. “Why do I choose unavailable men? Why do I constantly find myself in unhealthy relationships? What are the things I need to change about my behavior?”
“reckoning reality”
Frankel said Leavis was a great example of the “reality reckoning” she hopes will happen, starting on Bravo. The Real Housewives of New York said the young man VPR “He is put in a bar, fueled by alcohol” and what happens is “exploitation without compensation.”
“It’s so cool to validate this experiment because for a moment I thought I was going crazy,” said Levis. “That’s right — reality TV is adapted, invented to create a certain story, and so it’s not all realistic. As the viewer tunes in, it’s easy to get sucked into it and then the concept of an affair comes home, and it hits hard for a lot of people so I think it was There’s a lot of projection going on…and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of it.”
“I’ve been drinking too much” and not in a “safe place”
Near the beginning of the episode, Leavis (somewhat) apologized for her actions.
“I want to take a moment to just acknowledge the hurt I’ve caused so many people. I wasn’t careful with my actions and I wasn’t thinking long term,” she said. “I was so surrounded by grief and wanting to meet certain needs.”
Looking back, she can see that she’s “still recovering” from breaking off her engagement to co-star James Kennedy, Leavis said.
She added, “When I was filming, I drank a lot to relieve that anxiety, and in a reality TV environment, I didn’t get that safe space to express my feelings in a healthy way.” This sounds similar to the legal letter Frankel’s senior attorneys sent to NBCU. Sure enough, Levis is one of the 80s reality stars who are rumored to be planning to join the fight.